The number of M&A transactions in Latin America decreased 14.6% year­onyear in January­May to 751, of which 312 reported deal values totaling US$48.1bn ­ a 33.4% y­o­y increase.

May alone saw 124 operations region­wide, of which 52 reported deal values totaling US$7.5bn, a 4.53% decline from May 2017, according to research firm Transactional Track Record (TTR).

"Regarding Latin America in general, our latest reports have shown that Colombia, Mexico and Peru are ahead of other countries in terms of market performance," said TTR in the May edition of its M&A report.

"The three countries have attractive growth prospects in comparative terms for the region and additionally there has been a rapid growth of the middle class which evidently makes them places where investors seek to expand and diversify," TTR quoted as saying in an interview Felipe Quintero and Juan Manuel de la Rosa, partners of Colombian law firm DLA Piper Martinez Beltrán.

"In addition, the effort that these countries are making, together with Chile, to strengthen the Pacific Alliance, generates a very attractive platform for investment and regional consolidation in view of the potential for commercial and stock market integration that it offers," said Quintero and de la Rosa.

"In particular, the cases of Peru and Colombia are similar in that they come from a 2017 marked by an economic slowdown and political uncertainty, to a 2018 where investors (in particular, those that are consolidating regional expansion processes) see a high potential in both economies."

With this in mind, they added, "In the case of Mexico, although the outlook for the dynamism of the Mexican economy continues to be attractive ­ among other reasons due to changes in the energy and telecommunications markets ­ international investors continue to expect to see how Mexico will lower its dependence on foreign countries, particularly in its economic relationship with the United States."

M&A in May
The month of May saw Brazil continue to lead the regional pack in M&A operations, recording 377 deals (­15% y­o­y) with reported deal value of US$27.8bn (+26% y­o­y).

Next in line was Mexico, which TTR noted was the only country to have positive results for both the number and size of operations, recording 136 deals (+24% y­o­y) with an 11% increase in reported deal values at U$6.5bn.

Argentina had the third most operations in May, recording 88 deals (­9% y­o­y) with a 24% decline in reported deal values, which reached US$2.0bn. Chile recorded 76 operations, down 27% from May 2017, though reported deal values surged 157% y­o­y to US$6.25bn.

Colombia saw 63 operations in May (­5% y­o­y) with reported deal values reaching US$1.4bn (­37% y­o­y.)

Though Peru placed last among major regional markets with 57 deals in May (­7% y­o­y), reported deal values jumped 188% y­o­y to US$4.8bn.

Private Equity and VC
TTR reported 42 private equity operations in the region during January­May, 18 of which raised a combined US$2.6bn.

The figures represent a 41% drop in the number of deals from the same period of 2017 and a 21% decline in raised capital.

The first five months saw 127 venture capital deals, a 2% increase y­o­y. Total reported venture capital moving through Latin America came to US$733mn, 5% less than recorded in the same period of 2017.

Source: Business News Americas / BN Americas - Chile